The city of Springfield, Ohio, is taking a stand against white supremacist terrorism, suing a neo-Nazi group for launching a violent, racist intimidation campaign against its growing Haitian immigrant community.
Source: Stephanie Keith / Getty
According to The Associated Press, Springfield’s Mayor Rob Rue and several residents filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Dayton against Blood Tribe leaders Christopher Pohlhaus and Drake Berentz, along with seven unidentified members.
The lawsuit accuses the group of “engaging in, and inciting, a campaign of harassment and intimidation, motivated by ethnic and racial hatred.”
With the Anti-Defamation League backing the legal fight, Springfield is demanding a jury trial to stop the hate and make Blood Tribe pay up in damages.
Blood Tribe Brought Chaos to the City—Guns, Nazi Flags & Harassment
Springfield, a city west of Columbus, has seen its Haitian population rise to 10,000 as families fled the instability in Haiti for a fresh start. But with that growth came hostility from white supremacists, especially after a Haitian immigrant driver was involved in a school bus accident that killed a child in 2023.
By July 2024, Blood Tribe took that resentment and ran with it.
The Associated Press reports that the lawsuit states that the group began framing the Haitian influx as an “invasion” that threatened Springfield’s “good white residents.”
Then came the real terror.
In August 2024, the Blood Tribe pulled up to Springfield’s jazz and blues festival, according to the lawsuit. They allegedly:
Flashed guns in public.
Waved swastika flags while decked out in matching red shirts, black pants, and ski masks.
Stormed City Hall, where Berentz delivered a “racist and antisemitic rant” as members chanted “Seig Heil” and threw up Nazi salutes.
The city had officially been infiltrated by hate.
Neo-Nazi Group Allegedly Used Bomb Threats & Dating Apps to Terrorize Residents
Beyond the shocking public displays of racism, the Blood Tribe allegedly took their campaign of terror straight to people’s homes.
CNN reports that the lawsuit accuses Blood Tribe members of:
Sending bomb threats and death threats to Springfield residents who supported Haitians. Flooding people’s phones with racist voicemails, emails, and social media harassment. Doxxing residents, leaking personal details online to incite more threats and violence. Using dating apps to lure random men to victims’ homes under the promise of drugs and sex.
This wasn’t just a hate group—it was organized terrorism targeting an entire community.
Trump’s Lies & Neo-Nazi Praise? Springfield Says It Fueled the Fire
The lawsuit doesn’t mention Donald Trump outright, but the Blood Tribe’s rise in Springfield came right after his false, inflammatory remarks about Haitians.
Source: Stephanie Keith / Getty
As previously reported, Trump turned up the heat on Springfield in September 2024 when he falsely claimed during a debate with Kamala Harris that Haitian immigrants in the city were abducting and eating people’s cats and dogs.
That outrageous lie spread like wildfire, leading to even more hostility toward Springfield’s Haitian residents.
The lawsuit states that Blood Tribe leader Pohlhaus “gleefully took credit” for the racist conspiracy theories spreading globally, saying they helped boost his group’s notoriety.
Meanwhile, the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a national advocacy group, attempted to file criminal charges against Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, arguing that their rhetoric helped fuel the violence in Springfield.
Do y’all remember the viral trend and memes of Trump’s statements during the Trump vs Harris debate in Sept. 2024? Ex: “They’re eating the dogs and cats?”
In Forbes, it described a frenzy of online users literally creating songs about it. That left a stain on the Haitian digital community for sure. Now, we’re watching the aftermath unfold.
A panel of local judges declined to issue arrest warrants, instead passing the case off to the county prosecutor. The Haitian Bridge Alliance has since appealed the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing that local judges overstepped their authority in dismissing the case.
Springfield Fights Back—Blood Tribe Faces Courtroom Showdown
Springfield has had enough. With this lawsuit, city officials are sending a clear message: Neo-Nazi terror has no place here.
Now, Blood Tribe faces a legal reckoning that could not only block them from making further threats but financially cripple the group for good. As for Trump and Vance, the fight over whether they helped incite this hate remains tied up in Ohio’s highest court.
Springfield’s Haitian residents fled violence in their homeland for a better life—now they’re standing their ground against hate in America.
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